BECOMING CHALK ARTIST

I have been going through some of our pictures that I took over the summer. The ones I'm sharing today are from Sacramento's Annual Chalk It Up event. It's amazing to see the progression of the kids from when we started at the event. I think it would not be an off statement to say, 'They came, They saw, They conquered'! I brought clean little children into the event, and when we left they had gotten to watch the chalk artist do their thing, they found some chalk of their own, they danced, they got their face painted and left as happy dirty 'chalk artist' in their own respect.

"But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”"  -Matthew 19:14 (NKJV)

 

For such is the Kingdom of Heaven! Heaven, made up of people, like these children. If Chalk it Up, could represent a little slice of life, then how do I stack up? When God walks me through, am I soaking in the wonder and beauty of the art that surrounds me? When he hands me the chalk, do I tell him that I'm no artist, or do I gratefully take it and jump right in? When he ask me if I want to get my face painted, do I laugh and say, no, I don't want to look silly? Or do I fully commit, and not only get my face painted, but I become a tiger and roar! Do I leave the same way I entered? Do my hands get dirty? Do I care? Do I find others willing to get covered in chalk and delight in the gift that God has given us?

 

Walk with me for a moment as I examine my faith, as I see how childlike it is. As I determine if I'm fully trusting God and depending on him like a child, with no inhibitions of where he will lead me.

 

"Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,  and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."  -Matthew 18: 2-4 (NKJV)

 

 

PRESCHOOL AND PEP TALKS

And then it happened. The day just snuck up on me, I should have seen it coming, but I turned my back on it and suddenly it was here, tapping on my shoulder, pushing me aside and opening the door for Henry. That's right, Preschool. I'm going to warn you, this post has an overwhelming amount of pictures of my little guy on his first day, but it's a pretty big deal over here in this house.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm officially in it...I'm in this Motherhood thing big time! I've got to figure this whole mom of a 'big kid' thing out, because I don't know what I'm doing! School pick-ups, field trips, soccer practice. Thankfully there were no tears (from either of us), in fact, this kid was pretty excited and didn't look back twice after he said good bye. He even brought his little toy camera, just like mommy to take some first day shots of his own. 

And then, that was it...we officially had a preschooler. It should be noted that his sister took it very well...

The night before school I asked Henry what he might want to wear. I recommended one of his bow ties because I know it makes him feel handsome. He wasn't feeling it and his daddy teased me, assuring me that I would get our son beat up. I realized, this whole school thing might be tougher for me. I decided to keep my 'first day of school' pep talks to myself...or at least save them for another time. I wanted to tell him that if he got nervous or had trouble talking to the other kids, just sing because it makes him happy, and it would keep his mind off being nervous. Plus, who doesn't like to hear a good song? This is probably not the advice you give to a kid starting school...or so I'm told.

 

My heart a little discouraged, that I had no idea or sound advice to give my son, I began to think about Matthew 4. Matthew 4, is sort of the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Jesus had just been baptized, and now before he begins his work he is taken to the wilderness and tempted by Satan 3 times. I know...pretty serious thought to have considering my boy is just entering Preschool! I think I came to this thought, because while Jesus was tempted by Satan, and could have had a much 'easier' road had he just taken Satan up on what he was selling, he didn't. He remained true to himself, to his purpose, to who God created him to be. I think any parent has got to be proud when their child does not sell out who they are just for an 'easier' road or the road that does not get them 'beat up'

 

I wanted my son to start of his journey being himself, his wonderful, bow tie wearing, singing self or at least the sweet spirited boy God created. But he's doing great, even without the bow tie or singing or Mommy's awesomely awkward pep talks!   

 

BOY OR GIRL?

 Today was the "Big" 20 week ultrasound...you know the one that would tell us if girls would run the house or if boys would lead this pack of ours. I'm tickled 'pink' (yes, pun intended) to announce that it will be a little girl. She was pretty jazzed to be joining our family too, as you'll see from the somersault she was doing during the ultrasound...

The good news is, she's there, she's healthy, her heart is beating and she's growing more and more everyday! She is breech right now, but because I'm already doing a scheduled C-section, there was no worry or panic that came with that news. My son, who really wanted a brother, and had last week announced if it was another sister he would not like it, took the news really well. We had a good talk on how little sisters needed big brothers to protect them and help them fight bad guys, and that was good enough for him. At my last doctor appointment we couldn't hear the heart beat because my placenta is in front which makes it a little harder to detect, so seeing that heart beat and her roll around was an amazing feeling!

 

I'm reminded how I can trust God. His plan, his purpose. When we could not hear her little heart beat at the last appointment, I realized God had already written her story. He's already woven her life into mine. He's made plans for her and no amount of worry would change that. I had to trust him. She's there. I can't hear her, but she's there. I can barely feel kicks due to an anterior placenta, but she's there. God's there, he's reminding me to trust him. When I am unsure, he is covering me. When I am in doubt, he is saying 'lean on me, not on what you see or hear'. And I am so grateful to have a good God, who has plans for us all, including this baby girl of mine.

 

Thank you friends for celebrating with us today and sharing our joy!

 

"Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track."

-Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message)